Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Oregon Department of Justice Slam GSK for $3.8 million

The Oregon Department of Justice and British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline have reached a $3.8 million settlement in a lawsuit that accused GSK of, through 2010, marketing the drug Advair for mild asthma though it had only been approved for moderate to severe cases due to risks of the drug.

The suit also accused GSK of improperly marketing two other drugs between 1999 and 2003. It said the firm deceptively promoted the antidepressant Paxil, known as Seroxat in the UK, as safe for children and adolescents when it was not approved, raising concerns of increased suicide risk. It said GSK improperly promoted another antidepressant, Wellbutrin, for weight loss and sexual dysfunction though it was never approved for those things.

They add, "In the settlement, GlaxoSmithKline admitted no wrongdoing."

GlaxoSmithKline are currently under investigation in a number of countries, including the UK, for alleged bribery and fraud.

Back in 2008 the British Medicines regulator, the MHRA, concluded a four-year investigation into GlaxoSmithKline. The MHRA learned that GSK had committed criminal offences but decided against a criminal prosecution of Britain's largest pharmaceutical company. Instead, the MHRA wrote a letter to, the then, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, JP Garnier.

The letter, showed how the MHRA's investigation had found that GSK had withheld important safety information regarding the use of Seroxat in children and adolescents.[fig 1 and 2]

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It is understood that the MHRA did not interview any of its employees with ties to GSK during the four-year investigation.

Ironically, one of those employees, Dr Ian Hudson, who was former world safety officer at GSK [then SmithKline Beecham] is now CEO of the MHRA. [Back story]